SA venture capitalists invest in African seed accelerator 88mph

Cape Town-based venture capital firm 4Di Capital has invested in African seed accelerator 88mph, a first for the continent’s accelerator scene.88mph makes investments in early stage mobile-web companies targeting the African market; focusing purely on ideas with potential to scale across Africa.Besides funding, startups have immediate reach to Africa’s biggest growth markets via our tech hubs in Nairobi and Cape Town and an agreement with several local hubs across Africa.

This environment creates a competitive setting where startups spend three intensive months launching products and finding customers.

We make investments simultaneously in 10-12 startups, enabling them to learn from each other and make use of our extensive network of business and tech professionals as well as dedicated startup mentors.

We fund teams of committed and driven entrepreneurs who have the ability to execute and have superior technical skills.

We work together with them to raise followup funding after three months, when their products are ready to make revenue and scale to additional markets.

88mph, which currently runs accelerator programmes in Nairobi and Cape Town and is already partnered with Google for Entrepreneurs, has invested in 24 startups since 2011 and spent more than US$1 million in that time.

As well as investing in 88mph, the 4Di partnership will give the startups access to a wider range of local investors.

Justin Stanford, chief executive of 4Di Capital, said: “88mph is unique in that they provide startups with actual funds, which is very rare in emerging markets and Africa especially.

“We have chosen to back this accelerator as a part of our desire to help foster and develop the nascent early-stage startup ecosystem in South Africa.”

88mph is the first seed accelerator in Africa to be backed by a venture capital firm and according to Kresten Buch, founder of 88mph, the investment is an indication of Africa’s growing technology scene.

Buch said: “The technology space in Africa is picking up and we’re seeing a lot activity and opportunity.

“Investors are watching this and beginning to look outside of developed markets like the United States for growth, because those markets aren’t expected to grow as fast as they have in the past.”

Among the investments made by 88mph in the past seven months include Near A Builder andPeach Payments in Cape Town and Mdundo.com in Nairobi.

Sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to be the world’s third fastest growing region in 2013 and 2014 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

88mph also receives funding from Hannes van Renburg, chief executive of Fundamo, and Ranjith Cherickel, head of sales and business development, Africa, at Nokia Siemens Networks.

Original Article  – http://www.humanipo.com/news/4834/SA-venture-capitalists-invest-in-88mph

Huawei and Microsoft launch low-cost African smartphone

Huawei is to launch a low-cost Windows Phone 8 device in seven African markets this quarter as part of a partnership with Microsoft to drive up smartphone penetration on the continent.

The Huawei ’4Afrika’ smartphone will be available in Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Angola, Morocco and South Africa “towards the later part” of Q1. It is expected to retail at around $150.

The device is a customised version of the Chinese vendor’s Ascend W1 smartphone launched at CES last month. It sports a 4-inch 480×800 display, dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, front and rear-facing cameras, and 4GB of internal storage. It also features a customised store offering apps and content “built and designed by Africans for Africans.”

The launch forms part of Microsoft’s wider 4Afrika initiative, which also launches today.  Microsoft says Windows Phone already has a strong presence in Africa with devices from HTC, Samsung, and Nokia. Indeed, another aspect of 4Afrika is a joint Nokia and Microsoft customer training programme in Kenya and Nigeria designed to help accelerate adoption of Nokia Lumia 510 and 620 phones.

Huawei, meanwhile, has been active in Africa since 1999, and claims to have worked with more than 18 African governments.

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